About
A life in music
Dr Peter Giles, countertenor, voice-production teacher, choral consultant and director and solo speaker, is an internationally-known authority on the countertenor and the pre-1840 male high voice. His doctorate in 2000 is thought to be the first PhD attained solely through research and comprehensive work on the subject.
Choral background and development
He was a boy chorister in a traditional all-male choir in London. Later, he studied piano and organ with Leslie Pearson and, for a time, singing with Alfred Heath. This was followed by a number of years’ intensive work on singing and vocal production with the countertenor John Whitworth, specialising in early-music repertoire.
Cathedral years
After semi-professional singing experience in London, Peter Giles developed a notable career at three of England’s greatest cathedrals.
Appointed first as an alto lay-clerk to the choir at Ely, he held this post for four years before moving to Lichfield, where he was appointed a lay-vicar choral (an historical musical, not ordained, position). Three years later he was appointed a lay-clerk at Canterbury. Here he sang for the rest of his cathedral career, holding the position of Senior Lay-Clerk from 1978 till 1994.
Concerts, recordings and media work
Now retired from the concert platform, he has sung as a soloist throughout the United Kingdom and abroad, in oratorio and similar concert works, recitals, early-music performance and festivals. He has appeared on radio and television as a lecturer and solo singer here and abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. Televison appearances have included Tony Robinson’s TV series ‘The Worst Jobs in History’, talking about the castrati.
He performed nationally, internationally and extensively with the male-voice trio Canterbury Clerkes, with whom he often broadcast on radio and television and also made several commercial recordings. In 2000 he started Quodlibet (full name Quodlibet of Canterbury), a mixed-voice quintet which performed successfully for over two decades and recorded three CDs.
He has been organist and choirmaster at a number of parish churches and still directs other choirs and ensembles from time to time.
Laater voice training study and work
For some years in the 1980s Peter Giles studied White’s Technique voice production with Arthur Hewlett and qualified as a Registered Teacher. He became one of the country’s leading practitioners and teachers of the technique, which enables speakers, singers and all voice users to develop their potential uniquely without strain on the vocal folds. He now acts as a consultant to the organisation.
For information on White’s Technique or to ask about any of Peter Giles’ publications or recordings, click here.
